Friday, August 28, 2009

what's up the pike: opening time

You won't be seeing these sexy mixed-use buildings around Glenmont any time soon.

- The wait's over for the interchange at Randolph Road and Georgia Avenue. Sort of. The state's hired a construction firm to move utility lines in preparation for the long-awaited project, which they say will be carrying motorists through Glenmont by 2014. Developer JBG says the interchange's slow progress caused them to toss out plans for a mixed-use community atop the Glenmont Metro station with over 1,500 apartments and 90,000 square feet of retail.

- The Dutch Country Farmers' Market says they hope to open at their new location in Laurel in the "second week of September," according to an e-mail sent to shoppers. A local institution in Burtonsville for over twenty years, the so-called "Amish Market" sought to move elsewhere in the village center after being booted out for the redevelopment of the Burtonsville Shopping Center at Route 29 and Route 198. (Thanks to Dr. F for the heads-up.)

- Speaking of mid-September: as many of you know, the Fenton Street Market will start up Saturday, September 12 at the corner of Fenton and Silver Spring Avenue. Unlike the current farmers' market in Downtown Silver Spring, this one caters to artisans from across the region. Local activist Karen Roper told the Gazette it'll be bigger than Bethesda. "By making Fenton Village different, it will be more popular than any of those places," she said. "The diversity we have here is real diversity . . . as opposed to the homogenous, planned diversity it's being replaced with." Whoa, don't get all Wheaton on me now.

- Don't forget: the State Highway Administration wants to keep you posted about the InterCounty Connector's environmental impacts. The meeting's from 9am to 12pm Saturday at the National Capital Trolley Museum on Bonifant Road. It's your only chance to preview the newly re-built museum before it opens for real next month (they're shooting for September 27, according to their website.)